The preferred embodiment relates to an ultra-stable vanadium oxide thin film structure for the detection of hydrogen gas. The hydrogen gas is dissociated on the Pd catalyst into H atoms, and the V2O5 layer on which the Pd is coated functions as a H+ insertion host. The Pd layer is thus stabilized, which upon combination with hydrogen is chemochromically changed.
Hydrogen is a plentiful, clean, non-polluting fuel. Hydrogen is currently used in many industries, and the US demand for hydrogen is approximately 140 billion cubic feet per year and growing. However, hydrogen is explosive at 4% in air. Therefore, it is critical to measure, monitor, and control hydrogen wherever it is used.
In the gas detection art where sensors and measurement instrumentation for hydrogen gases detect and/or measure hydrogen, typically there is required a portable sensing device, a kit (where hydrogen gas detection and/or measurement is required in existing equipment), and sensor heads installed at points where hydrogen leaks are possible, or where monitoring is necessary (i.e. in internal combustion engines which operate using hydrogen as a fuel).
The problems associated with current H2 detection devices is that these devices do not exhibit stable cycling during repeated coloring/bleaching processes and are encumbered by a narrow response range for detecting H2.